SEOUL: South Korea’s defence ministry said Thursday (Nov 5) it would deploy maritime patrol aircraft and an explosive ordnance disposal team to waters near the Strait of Hormuz as part of a mission to help keep the waterway open.
The announcement comes as Seoul maintains it will not deploy troops to intervene militarily in the Iran war, while seeking to protect commercial shipping and energy supplies through one of the world’s most important maritime chokepoints.
The US-Iran war that began on Feb 28 has disrupted shipping through the Hormuz strait, a vital conduit for global energy supplies that normally carries about a fifth of the world’s oil.
The defence ministry confirmed reports that the government plans to expand the operational area of its Cheonghae anti-piracy naval unit, which protects commercial vessels in the Gulf of Aden off Somalia, to waters near the Strait of Hormuz, a defence ministry spokesperson said Thursday.
The deployment will include a destroyer, a P-8 maritime patrol aircraft, an explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) team, unmanned surface vessels, unmanned underwater vehicles and remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) for underwater exploration, Yonhap News Agency reported.